Page 1715 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 1 May 2012
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Theme and Indicator Cluster papers:
Land and Water, Biodiversity, Air (Volume 2).
Climate, People (Volume 3).
I seek leave to make a statement in relation to the papers.
Leave granted.
MR CORBELL: Today I present to the Assembly the most recent ACT state of the environment 2011 report. It is a requirement of the Commissioner for the Environment Act 1993 that the commissioner present to the government at regular intervals a report on the condition of our environment. The government is also tabling the report in readiness to formally respond to the commissioner’s report in mid-2012.
The ACT state of the environment 2011 report provides a comprehensive statement of the health of the ACT’s environment, land, water, air, biodiversity, climate, economy and people. The 2011 state of the environment report covers the period 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2011. The office of the commissioner has undertaken an SOE report for the ACT approximately every four years since 1995.
The government is pleased that the commissioner has provided such a detailed and comprehensive framework for assessing the condition of the ACT’s environment. The SOE report comprises three overarching papers. Firstly, an executive summary that outlines key findings and provides 22 recommendations in order to assist progress of environmental management in the territory. Secondly, a headline indicators paper uses a small set of indicators to help provide simple and clear information about the overall condition of the environment and the changes that have taken place since the last state of the environment report.
The third overarching paper is on progressing sustainability, which places findings into a wider sustainability framework and provides information on key sustainability challenges and opportunities for the ACT into the future. These three overarching papers are informed by five theme papers: land and water, biodiversity, air, climate, and people. Underpinning these themes are indicator papers that focus on measurement, analysis and interpretation.
New to this report is an additional paper on driving forces, namely, population, consumption, climate and land use, and transport, which drive demographic, social and economic pressures that impact on our environment. The state of the environment report recognises that our consumption and urban form continue to grow and that vigilance will be needed to maintain our healthy environment and our liveable city.
The SOE report highlights the importance of many of the government’s key sustainability initiatives being implemented in a range of areas—for example, in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in increasing energy efficiency, in expanding the use of renewable energy, in improving waste management, land and water management, protecting biodiversity, and pursuing an integrated approach to transport and urban development.
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